25
Simone de Wobreck © (Haarlem, 1557)
Ascent to Calvary
Oil on the table
H 53 x 40 cm, framed 63 x 48
Expertis Prof. Claudio Strinati with an estimate based on international market conditions of €25,000.
"The Ascent to Calvary (oil on panel, 63 x 48 cm, framed) bears inscription on the back (partially covered by a parquet presumably applied quite to strengthen the stability of the wood) the following wording: Martin de Vos Antwerp 1532-1603. Therefore the reference, which I believe was also written in recent times, is to the famous Flemish painter who was also present in Italy and left in our country notable works as well as a flourishing workshop. And it is precisely this point that we must deal with in relation to our painting. The work in question here, in fact, is absolutely Flemish and can be dated with absolute certainty to the second half of the sixteenth century, but does not at all denote the style, moreover unmistakable, of Martin de Vos. On the contrary, our work falls within a field of Flemish painting in Italy which does not derive directly from de Vos but instead coincides with a collateral but very distinct school of his fellow countrymen. Characteristic of our painting, examined here, is the swarming of characters who crowd around the fallen Redeemer and who reflect a dual sentiment: ethical and aesthetic. On the one hand, on closer inspection, the painter vigorously represents with harsh and almost folksy accents the pain and sadness of the crowd which concentrates and thins out with a very suggestive and enthralling scenic effect; on the other hand, it can be read overall in the work as a sense of mockery and mockery, consistent with the story represented. This type of representation is typical of Flemish culture which, in many authors also active in Italy, remains distantly connected to the culture of Hieronymus Bosch, dating back however to the first half of the sixteenth century.
"The Ascent to Calvary (oil on panel, 63 x 48 cm, framed) bears inscription on the back (partially covered by a parquet presumably applied quite to strengthen the stability of the wood) the following wording: Martin de Vos Antwerp 1532-1603. Therefore the reference, which I believe was also written in recent times, is to the famous Flemish painter who was also present in Italy and left in our country notable works as well as a flourishing workshop. And it is precisely this point that we must deal with in relation to our painting. The work in question here, in fact, is absolutely Flemish and can be dated with absolute certainty to the second half of the sixteenth century, but does not at all denote the style, moreover unmistakable, of Martin de Vos. On the contrary, our work falls within a field of Flemish painting in Italy which does not derive directly from de Vos but instead coincides with a collateral but very distinct school of his fellow countrymen. Characteristic of our painting, examined here, is the swarming of characters who crowd around the fallen Redeemer and who reflect a dual sentiment: ethical and aesthetic. On the one hand, on closer inspection, the painter vigorously represents with harsh and almost folksy accents the pain and sadness of the crowd which concentrates and thins out with a very suggestive and enthralling scenic effect; on the other hand, it can be read overall in the work as a sense of mockery and mockery, consistent with the story represented. This type of representation is typical of Flemish culture which, in many authors also active in Italy, remains distantly connected to the culture of Hieronymus Bosch, dating back however to the first half of the sixteenth century.
< i>But all this does not belong to the culture of de Vos who is instead oriented towards an austere and noble classicism.
Here, in our work, we see the exact opposite of classicism. On the contrary, we see an attitude on the part of the painter who executed the painting, of an absolutely mannerist type which corresponds with what we have noted there. The stylistic features of our painting, therefore, are closely connected with another Flemish master active in southern Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century, Simone De Wobreck. It is a name that today may be less well known than a de Vos, but Simone De Wobreck was a very prominent master, active above all in Sicily where he created an important group of disciples and followers. If you compare our framework to a genuine c apowork of De Wobreck as the majestic altarpiece of the Circumcision in the church of San Domenico in Castelvetrano is in my opinion clear how we are dealing with the same hand. Analytical and pungent, very lively and proliferating, our painting was created by an artist of the same mentality and of the same figurative culture that we see expressed in the Castelvetrano altarpiece. Moreover, Simone De Wobreck repeatedly treated the theme of the Ascent to Calvary, as is well documented by at least two altarpieces that the sources refer to him, one formerly in San Francesco in Caccamo and another in the church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Ciminna. In short, our painting must be considered a remarkable work of Flemish mannerism in Italy, probably datable between the ninth and tenth decade of the sixteenth century, in the last years of the life of De Wobreck who, born in Haarlem on an unspecified date but to be placed in the fourth decade, it appears to have disappeared, on a documentary basis, around 1596/97. The state of conservation of the work in question appears entirely satisfactory to me and I therefore estimate the painting based on the international market conditions at E.25,000.00 (twenty-five thousand)
< div>Your faithfulness, Claudio Strinati“
€ 12.500,00
Starting price